"Phew, I've finally perfected it," Gu Shanhai exhaled a murky breath, having successfully integrated the Golden Bell Shield Iron Cloth Shirt and Child Skill into his own new system over the course of three days.
The internal strengthening effect of the Child Skill combined with the Yunling Technique, while the outer training of the Golden Bell Shield Iron Cloth Shirt, after improvements, had incorporated the circulation of Mana through both the small and large cycles.
This meant that each time he cultivated the Yunling Technique, he was concurrently cultivating three other techniques.
He didn't have to worry about the hidden injuries, either. By reducing the efficiency of the Golden Bell Shield Iron Cloth Shirt, he lowered the damage to his body with each use.
If practicing the Ghost-faced Vajra resulted in 100 proficiency points and 1 point of hidden damage, Gu Shanhai's practice would only give 10 proficiency points and 0.1 point of hidden damage. Because the damage was low, his body's natural healing ability, combined with the Yunling Technique and Child Skill, would repair it immediately.
This could potentially increase the time required for cultivation, but at least there were no long-term concerns. This was a necessary move; he'd have to see if he could scoop up similar benefits in the next instance.
The next instance was in an intermediate zone with a broad scope. When the time came, he would go to the drugstore to buy some medicinal herbs to boil some nourishing soups or nutrient solutions, which would increase his efficiency.
"The consumption of Spiritual Energy has increased, but the conversion to Mana is greater and the efficiency of strengthening is higher. At least my physical quality is no longer a weak point," he reflected.
"Lucky I have Yunling Grass. Otherwise, even food would become a problem."
Nowadays, Gu Shanhai could rely on absorbing Spiritual Energy to achieve a form of fasting, otherwise he'd likely be starved of energy long ago.
As for the four corpses, they had been disposed of with the Red Flame Talisman. The power of this thing proved to be formidable indeed, effectuating a thorough cremation. Especially since he used Mana to help contain the flames, the ashes were wrapped in clothes, ready to be discarded at any random location in the next entry into the instance.
He was quick to act, so there was no decay; otherwise, the smell would have probably been unbearable.
"I need to practice the Butterfly Hand; it's a technique that could prove useful in close combat."
"Moreover, I need to perfect my Magic Domain. It just so happens that I got the Red Flame Talisman, which could potentially add a fire attribute."
The Magic Domain was an area formed by the protective Spirit Light and Spirit Blade, which currently had no attributes. But with two Red Flame Talismans left, he could research the talisman and take it further by adding a fire attribute capability.
Originally, he had planned to use one talisman to cremate the corpses, but the Flapping Big White Goose had given him three, so he now had a practical use for them.
The most straightforward use was to apply a fire attribute to the Spirit Blade, providing burns in close combat and explosive effects at range.
Once released, the Red Flame Talisman produced a Fireball that would explode on impact, causing area damage.
He wasn't interested in the Fireball per se but in the essence it represented, which was the fire attribute of the talisman.
Once he understood this essence, fireballs would be just the beginning; he could shape fire dragons or firebirds just as well.
Thus, not only would the Spirit Blade obtain adequate damage and various fire-related mutations, but if the protective Spirit Light were developed to incorporate a fire attribute, it would offer additional defensive power against fire attacks. In extreme cases, it might even absorb fire energy to amplify itself.
Imagine a Fireball Technique thrown at him that not only fails to cause damage but actually increases his shield value – that would be hard for anyone to accept.
"There are similar attributes in my notes. I'll have to research further in the intermediate zone and upgrade the attack power of my Spirit Light and Spirit Blade first."
He had already stayed for three days, any longer would simply be too much.
This stay was not without cost. While not in an instance world, he had to pay "First Epoch" one day of his lifespan as rent for each day, effectively using up two days of his life each day.
A day or two didn't seem like much, but with better provisions, his progress could be rapid.
Like the Blood-cow Set combined with martial artist corpses and the like, they might seem trivial, but could greatly compensate for his deficiencies.
It would be a loss to stay and perfect things before going on; after all, the difficulty level was still relatively low at the beginning and it would only increase as players leveled up and acquired better equipment.
He estimated that this overwhelming situation could only be sustained for maybe one or two more game sessions before other players caught up, once they grew familiar with the gameplay.
Players could improve much faster than him; they just needed to level up and allocate points, whereas he had to study and train hard.
Therefore, it was essential to take advantage of the current edge and quickly perfect his own system.
Like cultivating another Spirit Plant.
The resonance and energy circulation of the Yunling Technique could naturally be utilized not just for Yunling Grass but for other Spirit Plants too, needing only adjustments.
Didn't one see Gu Shanhai resonating with a magic treasure to create an energy cycle, forming a Magic Domain?
In essence, this resonance and energy circulation were specifically designed for Spirit Plants, with the effects on magic treasures considerably weakened, retaining only a tenth of their strength. The Magic Domain was powerful because it faced low-end settings.
If he could cultivate a new Spirit Plant, the core of the Magic Domain could switch from the magic treasure to the Yunling Grass, which would restore its power.
Cultivating Spirit Plants was critical, like selecting the right materials. Ordinary plants simply wouldn't do; they needed certain special qualities.
It wasn't impossible to use ordinary plants, but the cultivation costs would skyrocket.
As it was, Gu Shanhai didn't exactly have resources to spare.
However, if the next instance didn't yield something desirable, he might have to make do with an ordinary plant as a temporary substitute. It all depended on luck.
After all, instance worlds were random, and he couldn't influence that.
Like in the previous instance, he recognized the writing and understood the language, but had no idea what type of world it was. In his past life, he collected a vast array of writings and language systems, studied them, but never delved deeper. Back then, he was already a top figure; why bother understanding a low-martial world that couldn't cultivate Inner Strength?
Situations like these were plenty, most of the information he left behind pertained to higher-level worlds.
These high-level worlds would at least take a month to unlock, a month in the modern city that Gu Shanhai was familiar with.
The time ratio between "First Epoch" and the modern city was different, two to one.
For every two days in "First Epoch," only one day passed in the modern city.
Therefore, players who didn't enter "First Epoch" right away would fall far behind, slow by one step, and by many steps over time, not even accounting for the time difference.
Of course, once "First Epoch" completely consumed the modern city world, the time speed ratio would normalize.